Sealing or capping strips for structures

ABSTRACT

A capping or sealing strip is tee shaped with the stem of the tee in the form of a U having inwardly directed barbs on the inner walls thereof which engage with a barbed protruding member disposed within a slot which is to be covered and sealed by the sealing member.

[ 51 Sept. 5, 1972 United States Patent Van Loghem et al.

3,082,849 3/1963 Kelleri..........................52/466 3,416,275 12/1968 VanLoghen................52/471 [54] SEALING OR CAPPING STRIPS FOR STRUCTURES [72] Inventors: Johannes Jacobus Van Loghem;

3,455,080 7/1969 Meadows.....................52/476 Johannes La Grouw, h of FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Box 520, Rotorua, New Zealand Sept. 2, 1970 1947 Australia.....................52/468 Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Attorney-Holman & Stem [22] Filed:

[21] Appl.No.: 68,948

ABSTRACT A capping or sealing strip is tee shaped with the stem of the tee in the form of a U having inwardly directed barbs on the inner walls thereof which engage with a barbed protruding member disposed within a slot which is to be covered and sealed by the sealing member.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures 2,655,881 10/1953 Lenke..........................52/467 SEALING OR CAPPING STRIPS FOR STRUCTURES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to sealing or capping strips for structures, and has been devised particularly, though not solely, for use with a building system in which a series of transverse building panels are held together with vertical members which are shaped to hold the strips in position, and thus provide a building assembly.

In modern building assembly methods, it is frequently necessary to seal gaps between building members with a suitable sealing material such as that sold under the trade name of Seelastic. This material which is a form of caulking compound, is usually inserted into gaps or grooves with a caulking gun, and then left exposed, which has two disadvantages. Firstly, the appearance is not as it could be, since the gun does not leave a perfectly smooth surface. Also, there is some tendency for the caulking compound to be plasticized by applying paint thereto, and thus to come through the paint. Secondly, there is an added disadvantage in that the caulking compound may deteriorate due to the effect of sunlight thereon.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a sealing or capping strip which will obviate or minimize the foregoing disadvantages in a simple, yet effective manner, or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the invention consists in a capping, sealing or finishing strip comprising a tee shaped strip of a suitable material, the stem of the tee having holding means associated therewith and being adapted to be inserted in a caulked gap in a building structure, with the cross bar of the tee then covering the caulking material and providing an aesthetically appealing finished surface over the gap covered by the sealing strip.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross section of a capping sealing or finishing strip according to the invention installed in relation to structural members, and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of an alternatively mounted holding member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, a capping, sealing or finishing strip is preferably provided in two parts, a cover member 1 and a holding member 2. The cover member 1 is in the form of a crescent shaped portion 3 and a pair of bifurcated members 4 which extend substantially normal to the inner surface of the member 3. The members 4 carry serrations 5 having ledges facing towards the member 3. The strip is made from a suitable material such as polyvinyl chloride. The holding member 2 is provided with a fixing stem 6, again having serrations with ledges 7 which, in use, coact with the ledges on the serrations 5. In FIG. I, the stem 6 terminates in a locking formation 8 which could be of arrowhead formation or of cruciform shape as shown, or

any other suitable shape adapted to provide ledges 9 which, in use, bear against corresponding ledges 10 of a structural member, for example, a structural member 1 1 shown in the figures. The structural member 1 1 is an aluminum extrusion or alloy extrusion, and the stem 6 could be formed integrally with this extrusion as shown in FIG. 2, or the member 2 is provided as a separate member as shown in FIG. 1, which may then be inserted in position only in those places where it is required.

The use of the construction is as follows Unless the stem 6 is integral with the structural member 11 as is preferred and as is shown in FIG. 2, the member 2 is adapted to engage with the locking formation 8 in a groove 12 of the aluminum extrusion 11 used in a building system in which a series of horizontal panels 13 are held together by structural members including the structural member 11 which has dovetail wings llafitting in dovetail grooves 14 in the panels 13. A series of the panels 13 are assembled and the extrusions 11 placed in position in the dovetail slots 14 as required. The separate member 2 may be inserted in the extrusion 11 before or after positioning in the dovetail grooves as desired. For a corner profile, a vertical post is provided also held in position by extrusions fitting in grooves, the post being capped with a polyvinyl chloride cover which is sprung into place. For a window wall profile, the window frame is held in place with a suitably shaped vertical extrusion, and for a junction profile, for example, the wall tees off from another again the panels are held in place by a suitable extrusion fitted in grooves, the dovetail members holding, for example, panels on either side of the tee junction and a further panel on the stem of the tee. The spaces between the panels and the post or the panels and the window frame or one set of panels and another set of panels are left with a gap between the members, and this gap is held with a suitable caulking compound which may comprise that sold under the trade mark- Seelastic". The member 2 is placed in position before caulking commences, and after caulking has been effected the cover 1 is placed in position and pressed firmly so that the legs 15 are spread apart and the serrations 5 ratchet over the stem 6 until suitable ledges on the serrations 5 engage suitable ledges 7 so that the ends 17 of the cover 1 are firmly in contact with the services 18 of the panels 13. Because of the resilience of the material of the cover 1 a reasonably water tight seal is provided at the edges of the cover 1 and this assists in weatherproofing the joints.

It will be seen that in this way, the caulking compound is protected from view, the aesthetic appeal is improved considerably, and furthermore the caulking compound is protected from the effect of the sun. The filling of the spaces 19 with caulking compound may be effected as desired, for example, the caulking may be embedded deeply in the spaces or the spaces may be overfilled so that some compound leaks into the spaces 20 between the cover 1 and the panels 13.

What we claim is:

1. In a building structure in which a plurality of horizontal panels are arranged in end-to-end relationship and with their front faces lying in the same plane and in which each panel is provided with a slot rearwardly of the front face and leading to the panel end facing the adjacent panel end, with the slots receiving a structural component for holding the panels together, and means for sealing the space between the ends of adjacent panels, said sealing means including a cap portion of sufficient dimensions to overlie the ends of ad jacent panels and bear against the front faces of the panels, said cap portion having a pair of bifurcated members extending perpendicularly therefrom for positioning in the space between the panel ends, said bifurcated members being provided with axially spaced rows of opposed teeth defining ledges extending substantially normal to the cap portion, and a fixing stem for positioning in the space between the panel ends, means attaching said fixing stem to the structural component located in the slots, said attaching means ineluding a groove within the structural component, ledges extending inwardly of the groove, and an enlargement on the fixing stern located within the groove and having corresponding ledges for coaction with the ledges of the structural component, and said fixing stem having axially spaced rows of opposed teeth defining ledges extending normal to the fixing stern and which ledges coact with the ledges of the bifurcated members of the cap portion when the fixing stem is inserted between the bifurcated members to lock the cap portion against the front faces of the adjacent panels thereby sealing the space between the ends of adjacent panels. 

1. In a building structure in which a plurality of horizontal panels are arranged in end-to-end relationship and with their front faces lying in the same plane and in which each panel is provided with a slot rearwardly of the front face and leading to the panel end facing the adjacent panel end, with the slots receiving a structural component for holding the panels together, and means for sealing the space between the ends of adjacent panels, said sealing means including a cap portion of sufficient dimensions to overlie the ends of adjacent panels and bear against the front faces of the panels, said cap portion having a pair of bifurcated members extending perpendicularly therefrom for positioning in the space between the panel ends, said bifurcated members being provided with axially spaced rows of opposed teeth defining ledges extending substantially normal to the cap portion, and a fixing stem for positioning in the space between the panel ends, means attaching said fixing stem to the structural componEnt located in the slots, said attaching means including a groove within the structural component, ledges extending inwardly of the groove, and an enlargement on the fixing stem located within the groove and having corresponding ledges for coaction with the ledges of the structural component, and said fixing stem having axially spaced rows of opposed teeth defining ledges extending normal to the fixing stem and which ledges coact with the ledges of the bifurcated members of the cap portion when the fixing stem is inserted between the bifurcated members to lock the cap portion against the front faces of the adjacent panels thereby sealing the space between the ends of adjacent panels. 